Constellation Settles Antitrust Suit, Now Largest Wholesale Power Provider

Following a recent antitrust settlement, Constellation Energy will now be the biggest wholesale power provider in the U.S., owning 55 GW of capacity.

The antitrust complaint was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Texas, who claimed that Constellation’s $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine would reduce competition and lead to inflated market prices. Estimates show that costs could have risen by over $100 million annually in both ERCOT and PJM.

When the deal was first approved back in July, FERC had originally required Constellation to sell four PJM-based power plants with a combined capacity of 3,550 MW.

In total, the DOJ/Texas settlement now requires Constellation to sell six power plants and a minority stake in a seventh. Additional plants include:

Calpine’s 828-MW York 2 Energy Center, a dual-fuel plant in Delta, Pa.; Calpine’s 609-MW Jack A. Fusco Energy Center, a gas-fired power plant near Houston; Calpine’s 19-MW minority stake in the Gregory power plant, a gas-fired power plant near Corpus Christi, Texas.

This is the first settlement consent decree filed by the DOJ’s antitrust division pertaining to the electricity industry in roughly 14 years.